choke-on-em

Right, this programme was quite simply terrible. I mean, just so bad. The leads were totally wooden, had no chemistry and were totally unsympathetic, so the whole will-they-won't-they dynamic never really seemed to matter; these people are so uninteresting and didn't even seem to like each other, so why the hell would any viewer want them to get together? The bloke, however, was at least fairly entertaining to watch, due to the fact that with his abnormally large head, he was obviously a Thunderbird puppet, whose Pinocchio-like wish to become a real boy had been granted... In fact, all the characters are fairly uninspiring, especially the Thunderbird puppet's nephew, who is in the film solely to allow other characters to reveal their sensitive sides. Perhaps if he'd been a baby seal, who made eyes at the camera (with a studio audience obediently 'awww-ing') he would've been more bearable. There were only three characters who actually came across as anything more than insubstantial twats: Macaulay Culkin's ex-wife, who gets her bits out on several occasions; Thunderbird's sister, who actually seems human, rather than a hologram of a pretty person, as the rest of the cast; and Thunderbird's ethnic minority best friend, solely because he was in Teachers and is, in Teachers, a top actor. Apart from these honourable exceptions, the characters are dreadful finger puppet people, anxiously trying to be cool and do cool stuff (never before have I seen so much self-conscious smoking). You can almost imagine most of them lying in bed at night, unable to sleep, as they fret and worry: "Am I cool?" The writers made a real stab at making the people do interesting things, or utter interesting, quotable lines, but these were so obvious, almost signposted, that they just seemed to be trying too hard. Believe it or not, there were actually some small parts of the series that weren't too bad: the music is cracking, though it has obviously been picked to hammer home the fact that the characters are hip, happening, cosmopolitan bright young things. Don't watch this. No, actually do, its very funny. Shame it wasn't a comedy.

Normally I am not a big fan of German cinema, but every now and then a gem like Lola Rennt or this comes out of nowhere. Unlike anything Hollywood would have done, this does not clutter the story with subplots and just focuses on the three friends' last night together. The music is perfect, as it helps the audience realize the sadness these people must feel, knowing that they will never be together again. The script is very funny, and the direction is perfect, as Schlipper is able to let the story pause and simply film Floyd, Ricco and Walter as they sit in silence. However, somehow the film does not turn into a long-winded cheesefest. Along with Tom Tykwer(I think that's how you spell it) who produced the film, I think Schlipper is a talent to watch, cos, if there's any justice in the world, he will have a bright future. This film rocks.